Southern Asia's First Proton Therapy Center Begins Treatments

January 28, 2019 — IBA (Ion Beam Applications SA) announced the opening of the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre in Chennai, India, and the first treatment of a patient with proton therapy in Southern Asia.

The medical team from the Apollo Proton Cancer Centre in Chennai successfully treated the patient with the IBA Proteus Plus multi-room proton therapy solution on Jan. 2, 2019. The patient was treated for prostate cancer and proton therapy was used to maximize preservation of the surrounding healthy tissues.

Proton therapy has already benefited to more than 180,000 patients treated worldwide. This number is expected to double over the next five years, supported by expert opinion and clinical experience. In recent years, this has led centers in Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Germany and the U.S. to increase the number of indications treated with proton therapy.

Proton therapy offers many potential benefits to the patients, such as:

The potential increase in therapeutic dose within the tumor to raise the probability of eradicating it;

The possibility of preserving healthy tissues around the tumor with a consequent reduction in side effects; and

A reduction in the overall dose delivered to the patient, thus reducing the risk of a second cancer.